Ice cream cutter and server



Nov. 7, 1939.

R. E. ROTH ENBUSH ICE CREAM CUTTER AND SERVER Filed April 21, 1939 INVENTOE fir 5 Pawns/505g r k 3;, W

Patented Nov. 7, 1939 PATENT OFFICE ICE CREAM CUTTER AND SERVER Ray E.

Ind.

Rothenbush, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-half to Bertha Druding,

Beech Grove,

Application April 21, 1939, Serial No. 269,094

11 Claims.

This invention relates to means for dipping ice cream in relatively fixed quantities from a bulk container and has for a primary object the cutting and serving of ice cream to be uniform in shape'and size. A further object of the invention is to provide a tool that will actually surround and engage the cut-away serving of ice cream so that-it may be lifted bodily and safely out of the bulk can and deposited in a cone or dish as desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to release the serving of cream from the dipper at the desired time so that the serving will discharge freely and cleanly therefrom.

A further important advantage of the invention is that by reason of the unique combination of elements hereinafter set forth particularly in the claims, the device may be manufactured at a relatively low cost and also will be easily cleaned without having to take it apart. There is also the advantage of having the entire mechanism so assembled that it may be operated in a natural manner by the gripping of the opreators hand so that his other hand is free to hold a dish or cone to receive the serving.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side view in partial section;

Fig. 2, an end elevation;

Fig. 3, a transverse section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4, a transverse section on the line 44 in Fig. 2.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

I form a housing ill in any suitable manner such as by die casting. The upper portion of this housing it is curved around in the nature of a pistol grip and is made hollow with a slot through the underside of the wall to receive slidingly therethrough a finger piece H. The hous-- ing in has a transverse wall 42 against which the lower end of the piece I I normally rests.

A shaft i3 is entered through a hole in this wall l2 with a running fit. This shaft I3 is provided with a spiral groove M to receive one or more balls it, here shown as two in number. Each of these balls is carried in a fixed location in the foot iii of the piece II. In the particular form herein shown, this foot i6 is drilled to form passages H, one each entering from the front and rear sides and continuing through a central vertical bore in the foot I6 to permit the formation of a semispherical seat on the opposite side of the bore.

The shaft I3, upon being entered through the transverse wall I2, is pushed through the bore of a the foot IE to have the spiral groove 14 engage 5 about the first ball l5, and thereafter the shaft [3 is carried on up in a revolving manner to engage the next above ball l5 and then is carried upwardly until a head l8 on the lower end of the shaft 13 is brought into abutment with the under- 10' side of the transverse wall [2 as a limiting factor of travel.

The upper forward side of the housing in is formed with an opening therethrough, through which opening the upper end of the shaft !3 extends. A compression spring I9 is dropped over the upper end of the shaft l3 to have its lower end bear against the upper end of the foot i6 which extends laterally into the housing In from the piece II. A housing closure is formed to 0 have a bore entering therein from its underside to receive with a running fit at least the upper end of the shaft 83. This closure 20 is provided with an annular groove 2| extending into it from the bore. The shaft I3 is provided with a groove 22 therearound to receive a spring washer 23 therein. This washer 23 is split so that it may be compressed within the groove 22 to permit passing the closure 20 down over the upper end of the shaft 13 to that position wherein the spring washer 23 will spring outwardly to engage within the closure groove 2i, the washer 23 then being partially in both the shaft groove and the closure groove. The closure 28 is provided with a flange 24 engaging against the housing 10 and also has 51 a portion extending through the housing wall as a guide. When the washer 23 is seated, as above indicated, the closure 20 is maintained in position against outward displacement by reason of the head IS on the lower end of the shaft l3 abutting 0 the transverse wall [2. Downward movement of the shaft i3 is prevented through the washer 23 by reason of the flange 24 bearing against the housing Ill. Incidentally the upper portion of the closure 2!! is shaped to form a thumb rest.

The finger piece I! has a major opening 25 through which the fingers of the operator may be passed when the tool is being inserted into the ice cream. The lower end of the housing [0 is continued downwardly below the transverse wall I2, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, to form. a hollow, approximately semi-conical section opening on a diametrical plane from the rear or inner side. A cutter 26 is formed to fit closely within this lower housing portion and has an upper transverse circular end 21 attached to the head l8 of the shaft l3 in any suitable manner, such as by being welded thereto.

The attachment of the end 21 to the head [8 is made to position the cutter 26 normally within the homologous housing portion when the foot 16 is abutted against the wall l2 by the spring IS. The opening is provided through this end 2'! to match with a bore in the lower end of the shaft I3 and a stud 28 carrying a relatively narrow, thin bar 29 is inserted through that hole and entered in the bore of the shaft I 3 to have a split spring washer 3!! spring outwardly from the stud into a retaining groove formed within the bore of the shaft so that the bar 29 is retained snugly against the end 21 but is free to turn thereover.

As indicated in Fig. 3, this bar 29 is relatively narrow as well as being thin and carries a downturned fin 3| from one edge.

In using this cutter, the operator grips the housing ill to have his thumb bear against the closure 20 and his fingers extend through the opening 25 in the piece II and forces the lower spoon-like end of the housing down into the cream until the surface of the cream abuts the end piece 2! of the shiftable cutter. Then, holding the tool in that position, he shifts his fingers from the opening 25 to place them around the 1 underside of the piece ll, preferably in the finger positioning notches in said underside of piece I I, and squeezes that piece H upwardly into the cavity within the housing lil. This action causes the shaft !3 to rotate and thus turn the cutter 26 one hundred and eighty degrees at least to cut entirely around the cream, forming a conical piece thereby. While the piece H is thus retained in its upper position, the tool is lifted to carry the cut-away portion of cream and then held over the receptacle as intended to receive the serving. The fin 3! has been forced down into the upper end of the cream and thus causes the bar 29 to be held stationary with the serving. With the lower end of the tool held over the receptacle or therewithin, the grip on the piece H is released to allow the spring [9 to return the cutter 26 to its normal position nested within the lower end of the housing I0. This action not only causes the cream to be cut away from contact with the housing H) but also to be cut away from the end piece 21 by the bar 28 so that the serving is permitted to drop freely into the re ceptacle.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft having a spiral groove carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece carried by said handle and movable longitudinally thereof, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter.

2. In an ice cream cutter and server, the combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece shiftably carried by said handle, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, a transverse bar rockably carried at the upper end of said cutters, and a fin depending from the bar for insertion into the ice cream.

3. The combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft having a spiral groove carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece carried by said handle and movable longitudinally thereof, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yield ing means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, said first cutter being fixed in relation to said handle, and said second cutter being fixedly carried by said shaft.

4. The combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft having a spiral groove carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece carried by said handle and movable longitudinally thereof, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, said handle being hollowed to receive and guide said piece therein when the handle and piece are squeezed between the hand and fingers of the operator.

5. The combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft having a spiral groove carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece carried by said handle and movable longitudinally thereof, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, said handle being hollowed to receive and guide said piece therein when the handle and piece are squeezed between the hand and fingers of the operator, and a transverse wall across said handle forming a bearing for said shaft and against which said piece is abutted by said positioning means.

6. The combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft having a spiral groove carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece carried by said handle and movable longitudinally thereof,

means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, and a transverse terminal plate across the upper end of said second cutter.

'7. In an ice cream cutter and server, the combination of a handle, a cutter extending from the handle, a complementary cutter revolvable circumferentially with respect to the first cutter, a shaft carried by the handle, said second cutter being revolved by said shaft, a finger piece shiftably carried by said handle, means interengaging said piece and said shaft to produce rotary motion of the shaft upon movement of said piece toward the handle, and yielding means normally positioning said piece in an outer position to have said shaft retain said second cutter nested with said first cutter, and a transverse terminal plate across the upper end of said second cutter, a bar rockably carried under said plate free to swing therearound independently of the second cutter, and a fin downwardly projecting from said bar for insertion into the ice cream, movement of said finger piece causing a travel of said shaft sufficient to produce substantially 180 degrees of travel of said second cutter.

8. In an ice cream dipper, a handle, a finger grip piece slidingly guided by the handle to enter therein, a foot on the piece within the handle, a member extending transversely across the handle, a shaft rotatably carried by the transverse member screw-threadedly passing through said foot and extending thereabove, an upper shaft bearing carried by the housing to receive the upper end of the shaft, means interengaging the shaft and said bearing to restrain the shaft against longitudinal movement, a spring normally holding said foot against said transverse member, an extension from said handle forming a cutter housing, and a cutter normally nested in said extension, means fixedly connecting the cutter with the lower end of said shaft, whereby said dipper may be operated as a dipper by first inserting it into the ice cream and then by manipulating the handle and finger piece to lift said foot to rotate said shaft and its aflixed cutter from its nested position to a position forming a substantially enclosed chamber with said housing extension to retain a serving of ice cream therewithin.

9. In an ice cream dipper, a handle, a finger grip piece slidingly guided by the handle to enter therein, a foot on the piece within the handle, a member extending transversely across the handle, a shaft rotatably carried by the transverse member screw-threadedly passing through said foot and extending thereabove, an upper shaft bearing carried by the housing to receive the upper end of the shaft, means interengaging the shaft and said bearing to restrain the shaft against longitudinal movement, a spring normally holding said foot against said transverse member, an extension from said handle forming a cutter housing, and a cutter normally nested in said extension, means fixedly connecting the cutter with the lower end of said shaft, whereby said dipper may be operated as a dipper by first inserting it into the ice cream and then by manipulating the handle and finger piece to lift said foot to rotate said shaft and its affixed cut ter from its nested position to a position forming a substantially enclosed chamber with said housing extension to retain a serving of ice cream therewithin, said handle and extension cutter housing forming a continuous unitary piece arcuately curving around from an upper end of the handle to the lower tip of the housing, said housing being substantially a semi-axial hollow conical section, and said cutter being similarly shaped.

10. In an ice cream dipper, a handle, a finger grip piece slidingly guided by the handle to enter therein, a foot on the piece within the handle, a member extending transversely across the handle, a shaft rotatably carried by the transverse member screw-threadedly passing through said foot and extending thereabove, an upper shaft bearing carried by the housing to recei e the upper end of the shaft, means interengaging the shaft and said bearing to restrain the shaft against longitudinal movement, a spring normally holding said foot against said transverse member, an extension from said handle forming a cutter housing, and a cutter normally nested in said extension, means fixedly connecting the cutter with the lower end of said shaft, whereby said dipper may be operated as a dipper by first inserting it into the ice cream and then by manipulating the handle and finger piece to lift said foot to rotate said shaft and its affixed cutter from its nested position to a position forming a substantially enclosed chamber with said housing extension to retain a serving of ice cream therewithin, and an upper transversely positioned end closure plate on said cutter adjacent said transverse member.

11. In an ice cream dipper, a handle, a finger grip piece slidingly guided by the handle to enter therein, a foot on the piece within the handle, a member extending transversely across the handle, a shaft rotatably carried by the transverse member screw-threadedly passing through said foot and extending thereabove, upper shaft bearing carried by the housing to receive the upper end of the shaft, means interengaging the shaft and said bearing to restrain the shaft against longitudinal movement, a spring normally holding said foot against said transverse member, an extension from said handle forming a cut ter housing, and a cutter normally nested in said extension, means fixedly connecting the cutter with the lower end of said shaft, whereby said dipper may be operated as a dipper by first inserting it into the ice cream and then by manipulating the handle and finger piece to lift said foot to rotate said shaft and its affixed cutter from its nested position to a position forming a substantially enclosed chamber with said housing extension to retain a serving of ice cream therewithin, and an upper transversely positioned end closure plate on said cutter adjacent said transverse member, a bar, a post on the bar rotatably passing through said cutter end plate to be rotatably carried by said shaft, and a fin extending downwardly from the bar for ice cream engagement.

RAY E. ROTHENBUSI-I. 

